Wednesday, June 04, 2008

CQ Press sold to Sage

The decision to sell the publishing unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. was announced in January together with a promise that the sale process would be completed by months end. Yesterday CQ Inc. and Sage announced a sale agreement had been completed. The long process seems to reflect the slow nature of M&A in the publishing business at the moment: Haights Cross is still awaiting a purchaser after placing itself on the block in December. In their joint announcement Sage and CQ promised to keep CQ in tact and in Washington DC (although their location is less important to this division than the rump CQ business).

Commenting on the acquisition, Blaise Simqu, SAGE’s President and CEO said the following:

“We’re very pleased CQ Press is joining the global SAGE family,” said Simqu. “CQ Press and SAGE enjoy a shared mission and values. Both are driven by a passion for scholarship and innovation that impacts education and public policy. John Jenkins and the rest of the CQ Press executive team have created an impressive publishing enterprise that will further enhance SAGE’s presence in the marketplace.”

Despite the long sales process, interest in CQ Press was high with a number of publishing companies actively involved in the purchase process. Terms have not been announced.

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Michael Cairns

I enjoy discussing the publishing industry and in particular the changes that impact the business. On PND, I don't write about everything, just the things that interest me.

My career spans a wide range of publishing and information products, services and B2B categories and my operating and consulting experience has largely been with brand-name companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Macmillan, Inc., Berlitz International, AARP, R.R. Bowker and Wolters Kluwer.

I have served as a board member of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and in addition to my responsibilities at R.R. Bowker, l also served as Chairman of the International ISBN Executive Committee.